


Hat Trick

by Cinaed



Category: Glee, High School Musical
Genre: Canon Gay Character, Crossover, Crossover Pairing, Facebook, First Meetings, M/M, Male-Female Friendship, Not Canon Compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-01-25
Updated: 2011-01-25
Packaged: 2017-10-15 02:17:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/155982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cinaed/pseuds/Cinaed
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"So, did you enjoy your first week at Juilliard?" Kurt asks as soon as Rachel answers her cell. He's expecting an exuberant, "Yes! It's everything I've dreamed!" or a frantic, "Oh god, it hasn't sunk in yet. Am I really here?"</p><p>He's not expecting her to growl out, "Ryan. Fucking. Evans."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hat Trick

"So, did you enjoy your first week at Juilliard?" Kurt asks as soon as Rachel answers her cell. He's expecting an exuberant, "Yes! It's everything I've dreamed!" or a frantic, "Oh god, it hasn't sunk in yet. Am I really here?"

He's not expecting her to growl out, "Ryan. Fucking. Evans."

Kurt blinks. "Excuse me?" he says. "Is that a name I should recognize?"

"Ryan Evans is the bane of my existence. He is awful, Kurt, so incredibly awful," Rachel announces. "He's smug and awful and his  _hats_ \-- doesn't he realize it's rude to wear that sort of apparel indoors?" 

"Um," Kurt says, but he's amused now rather than confused. Honestly, he'd thought it would take Rachel a bit longer than a week to discover her rival, but that was Rachel for you. Always exceeding expectations. "You do realize you've said awful about five times, right?" 

"That's because he  _is_ ," Rachel hisses. 

He can picture her narrowed eyes, and bites back a laugh. He should be a good friend now, soothe her rage and tell her that she's ten times the singer that this Ryan is and not to worry. He opens his mouth to say exactly that.

What comes out, though, is a song, sung perhaps a bit too sweetly into his phone. 

" _What is this feeling, so sudden and new? I felt the moment I laid eyes on you. My pulse is rushing, my head is reeling--_ "

He stops, but only because Rachel has groaned and hung up on him. 

 

* * *

 

Over the next few weeks, Kurt learns more about Ryan Evans than he ever wanted to know. Hell, he probably knows more about Ryan than Ryan's roommate, based on Rachel's hour-long tirades and the occasional picture she takes of Ryan with her phone.

Rachel is definitely wrong about one thing, though-- this Ryan guy has  _great_  taste in hats. In fact, on more than one occasion Kurt has been tempted to text Rachel and ask where Ryan does his shopping.

In fact, it's entirely Rachel's fault that Kurt even thinks of Ryan Evans when he sees the hat in the thrift shop window. 

It's a trilby, made of felt that's a pale blue shade. It would match Ryan's eyes perfectly, Kurt thinks, and then groans at the fact that he knows Ryan Evans's eye color so well. Maybe he should put a moratorium on Rachel's rants regarding her rival for a couple weeks. 

Still, he wanders inside, picking the trilby off the mannequin and examining it. It's in good condition, and trilbies are actually pretty fashionable right now-- not that he's thinking of buying it for some guy he's never met. No. That would be awkward and a little stalkerish, right? Right, he tells himself, and then catches sight of the sign.

_Buy one hat, get the second one half off._

"Well, in  _that_  case," Kurt mutters. He'll figure out a non-creepy way to get the hat to Ryan, somehow. 

 

* * *

 

It turns out his not-creepy way is looking up Ryan Evans's on Facebook (luckily, the search is made simple by the fact that Rachel has him friended, presumably adhering to the 'keep your friends close and enemies closer' idea) and sending him a private message with a picture of the hat attached. 

_Hey,_

_I'm Kurt. I've heard a lot about you from Rachel Berry. Don't worry, I've disregarded most of her rants. I just noticed you have great taste in hats. I saw this one in a thrift shop and thought you might like it. Could I send it to your university post office box, if that's not too weird?_

_-Kurt Hummel_

He sends the message and then tries not to think about it. That's easy enough to do-- he's loving fashion school, but the workload is incredible. 

He checks his email the next morning, and there's a message from Ryan, saying he'd love the hat as long as Kurt hasn't rigged any explosives or put any itching powder on it, and giving his post office box address. 

Kurt finds himself grinning a little stupidly at the screen, and shakes his head. He's only exchanged a pair of emails with Ryan Evans. He's not developing a crush. Not at all. 

 _Great!_  he types.  _Expect the hat in your mailbox in a few days, free of explosives and itching powder._  

 

* * *

 

After that, Kurt and Ryan start exchanging emails. 

Random ones, that jump from fashion to Rachel's latest outburst to their future careers. After a month or so, Ryan admits that he doesn't find Rachel frightening, just a bit much to handle. He's got a twin sister exactly like her, except Rachel's a little less likely to stab Ryan in the back. She'd stab him in the front instead. 

Ryan's got a great sense of humor, slightly sarcastic and a little self-deprecating. When he finds out Kurt's in fashion school, he starts sending him pictures of his friends in various outfits, some as fashion dos (Gabrielle, who wears everything like they were made for her), and others as fashion don'ts (Gabrielle's boyfriend, Troy, who Kurt thinks would get along great with Finn). He's also into musicals, although his and Kurt's tastes don't always mesh. Kurt prefers classics and future-classics like Wicked, not musicals like Zanna Don't! 

It's nearing Thanksgiving break when Kurt realizes how much he is screwed. He's in the middle of writing an email to Ryan, one about the total faux pas one of his classmates committed, when his roommate goes, "What is that song? I don't recognize it."

"What is what song?" Kurt asks, blinking.

"That song you were humming," Alex says. He hums a few bars, a little huskily, but in a nice bass.

It takes a second for Kurt to realize what Alex is humming. Then he flushes and goes, "Oh. Um. You wouldn't have heard of it."

Alex eyes him but doesn't comment, for which Kurt is extremely grateful. 

Kurt turns back to the email, having stopped in mid-sentence, and resists the urge to groan. Still, he'd been humming a song Ryan had performed in  _high school_. 

The song lyrics run through his head, relentless. 

 _It's hard to believe_  
That I couldn't see  
You were always there beside me  
Thought I was alone  
With no one to hold  
But you were always right beside me.

Yeah, he's completely screwed.

 

* * *

 

Rachel's been pushing at him to visit all semester, but Kurt's always put her off. Sure, they're living in the same city, but he's buried under mountains of homework and assignments, after all; he wants to do well his first semester. He'll visit her in the spring, he promises.

Rachel's Rachel though-- no one can withstand her when she's determined about something, and so over Thanksgiving break he finds himself agreeing to visit her right before exams, where they can go for a night out and cry on each other's shoulders about how they're going to fail their exams. (He's joking about the crying. Mostly.)

He mentions his upcoming visit to Ryan, but Ryan doesn't comment. Kurt tries not to read too much into it. Ryan's just as focused on his classes as Kurt and Rachel are-- maybe he's just celebrating the fact that Rachel will be distracted and he can steal the top spot in the class. 

 

* * *

 

"Kurt!" Rachel pounces on him, hugging him hard enough to take his breath away, as though they hadn't seen each other during break. "Before we go to dinner, I have to show you around," she gushes.

"Sure," Kurt agrees readily enough. Who wouldn't want to investigate Juilliard if given the chance? He links his arm with hers and says, "Lead on." 

Rachel smiles at him. "I can't w--" she begins, and then her expression darkens. "Evans," she says in a cool tone.

Heat floods Kurt's face, but he makes himself turn anyway. 

Ryan's standing there, wearing the hat Kurt sent him. Kurt was right; it does match his eyes perfectly. Ryan's smiling a little tentatively, his eyes locked on Kurt. "Hi," he says. 

"Hi," Kurt says, and is grateful when his voice doesn't crack.

He's aware of Rachel suddenly withdrawing her arm from his. A second later, Rachel groans. "Oh. My. God. Kurt, you are the  _worst_  friend  _ever_." Kurt's a little surprised when she stomps her foot. "Well?" she says imperiously. "Are you both coming?" 

"What?" Kurt says.

"What?" Ryan echoes. At least he's looking a bit flushed as well. 

"Please, Evans, you two are perfect for each other. And maybe if you two start dating, you'll get distracted from your coursework," Rachel says.

That kicks Kurt out of his stupor, and he laughs. "Only you would look at a possible relationship and see a potential to further your Broadway ambitions, Rachel Berry," he says. It comes out admiring and more than a little fond, and Rachel grins. 

Then Kurt turns his attention back to Ryan. "Um, you really can come along, if you want," he offers, and grins at Ryan's answering smile. He takes a deep breath. "And. Uh. I like your hat."

"What?" Rachel asks when Ryan dissolves into laughter. "What's so funny?"


End file.
